Teddy Bear
by WaitingWatching
Summary: -It took her a while to read the carefully written letters, she was still only young after all. Eventually though, she was able to read- "Thank you for being my friend, Kairi,"-


Xehanort could really talk when he wanted to, Ienzo reflected, especially if you got him on the topic of Hearts. This was quite beneficial to him really, as it meant both his mentors- Ansem and Even- were so busy listening to Xehanort, that Ienzo could take of sneak straight out of the laboratory without either of them noticing. He trotted his tiny form down the silent and sterile corridor, out into the courtyard. Carefully he looked around, scrutinising every aspect of his surroundings. It was important that none of the guards caught him leaving, or he'd have a lot of explaining to do. Aside from the fact that he didn't like talking much at the best of times, Ienzo felt finding the right words to tell everyone exactly why he'd been sneaking out of the grounds for the past few months unsupervised would be more difficult than anything he'd attempted to talk his way out of before.

Unfortunately for Ienzo, it was that moment that the captain of the guards, Braig, chose to stroll around the corner. The boy dived back inside and hid behind the door to wait for the man to walk past. As the sound of footsteps faded away Ienzo sighed softly. It would be hard to get out if Braig and the others were lingering nearby. He looked thoughtfully down at himself and after a few moments removed the small blue bag on his back, then his small lab coat- that was still too big for him, even with the sleeves rolled up- and carefully placed the bag on the floor and folded up his coat. He brushed aside the dust behind the door with his hand and gently placed the prized possession on the cleaned spot and picked up his bag with equal consideration. After hugging the object tightly to his chest for a moment, Ienzo put the bag back on and then he walked out of his hiding place, propped the door open and went back over to the door. Now he looked like any other child in Radiant Garden, if no one looked to closely, and aside from the fact he was tidier than most of them he'd probably be able to go about the town relatively undetected. And the tidiness was soon to be corrected.

Cautiously, Ienzo stepped outside and after a few seconds ran to the nearest tree. It was easy to hide his small frame behind the trees huge trunk and after a while he heard people go past. He recognised the voices of Braig and Dilan, but could not hear a third. This wasn't too surprising; Aeleus didn't talk much. The three of them went out of Ienzo's hearing and he made the second part of his escape. Running as fast as his short legs could take him, Ienzo shot towards the bushes and the wall they concealed. He reached them and quickly dropped to his hands and knees, scrambling underneath the leaves. Sticks and thorny leaves spiked his palms but didn't pierce the skin as he made his way towards the crack in the wall that would just about fit a child-scientist. The latter crawled through the hole and came out on the edge of the castle, basking in the sunlight. He had mud on the knees of his trousers, his hands were filthy and without realising it he had caught a leaf or two in his now messed up blue hair. No one would recognise him as this serious child that worked with the scientists in the castle. Perfect. Ienzo checked he still had his bad and then started running again, down in the direction of the town centre, to the Secret Place.

The name for his little den had come from combining a young intellectual that spent most of his time with forty-something (probably) academics and a sweet, ditzy little girl that had grown up with her grandmother. She had wanted to call it the Secret Spot because it was secret. He had wanted to call it the Assembly Place because that was where they assembled. Or met, as he had explained to the five year old girl. She came up with a compromise; mix the names together. Their meeting point had gone through a stage of being called the Assembly Spot, but they unanimously decided it was weird and called it the Secret Place instead. The girl was quite proud of her little hiding place and it was something she carried with her for a while after she and Ienzo were separated.

The latter pushed the boxes out of the way of the entrance to his den and looked around, hoping his friend was already here. She was.

"Heya, 'Zo!"

The boy almost fell over as a flash of red hair sped towards him and the girl it belonged to hugged him tightly.

"You're all muddy," she pointed out needlessly, stepping back and scrutinising him.

"Hello, Kairi," Ienzo responded quietly as she beamed at him.

"You okay? I hasn't seen you in ages," Kairi said, looking at him up and down. Then- "Ienzo! My dress is muddy now!"

When she'd hugged him, some of the mud had gone from his clothes to hers. "Sorry, Kairi,"

"It's okay, I don't mind," she said chirpily, then plunged into a sea of words, talking to him so fast that the only reason that he could understand what she was saying to him was through his extensive knowledge of words and experience.

It was quite strange that they got along as well as they did. Kairi was friendly and sociable, everyone loved her, and Ienzo was known to be permanently silent and rather cold for a child. Not that he was always quiet, but the only people he spoke to were Even and Aeleus- and of course Kairi. Not even Master Ansem had gained the privilege, but he had opened up- by his standards- to the girl without even meaning too.

Maybe it had something to do with how close they were in age. He didn't know anyone his actually age, but she came close. The only reason he knew her was because of one visit she had had to the castle; her father was Ansem himself. They hadn't left each other's presence for her entire stay- she'd latched onto the closest child and he had absolutely no experience of what to do with her. She was surprisingly shy, and hadn't talked much; he, of course, never said a word. But when she had been about to leave, she's whispered-

"Will you come and see me?"

He hadn't replied and merely watched her walk off with her grandmother (who cared for her while Ansem was too busy- all the time) But to his confusion, he'd used what skills he had at deception and computing hacking- which were alarming good for his age- and found out where she lived. Then he had snuck out of the castle, which was forbidden, and gone to see her. She was outside her house, doodling with a piece of chalk on the concrete.

"You came!"

Their relationship hadn't changed too much over the years- he was still less likely to talk than she and they both still snuck out to see each other. They couldn't meet up at the Secret Place without some level of deception; Kairi couldn't go too far from her house because of her grandma's limitations on being able to look for her, and Ienzo was simply not allowed outside of the castle. Once, Ienzo had suggested that they just told someone where they were and could just meet up with an adult around, but she had replied;

"If grownups knew where it was, it wouldn't be a secret no more!"

And despite being a child genius, academic and apprentice to Lord Ansem the Wise, Ienzo still was a child and could not whole heartedly argue with that logic.

"I need to go back," Ienzo said after half an hour of mainly one sided conversation.

"Oh," Kairi replied, visibly deflating. She watched him turn towards the door and felt something inside her twist in slight pain. Her quiet friend always listened, he had looked after when she was upset and when she'd cut her knee, and he did reply to her when she asked him questions- she knew this was more than he did for most people. But sometimes, she wondered if Ienzo really liked her at all. He didn't talk to her about things that made him upset, and that's what friends did. She didn't like not helping him.

"Maybe he doesn't need helping" she told herself softly. Then she smiled her characteristically sweet smile and called out a farewell to the retreating Ienzo. He paused, and seemed to consider something.

Slowly, he turned round gaze apparently super glued to the floor. Kairi could tell that he had gone red, which surprised her. Ienzo never blushed.

The boy had taken off the blue bag on his back and was now fishing about inside it. He found it and pulled his soft blue eyes up to meet Kairi's more vibrant azure ones. Considering saying something only briefly, Ienzo went an even darker shade of red and pulled something small and brown out of the bag.

Kairi blinked blankly at the object he was presenting her. It looked soft and warm, lopsided in an adorable kind of way and distinctly home made. A little teddy bear.

She reached out and took it, turning it over and over in her hands. It was a cuddly as she had expected and she hugged it against herself, before looking up at Ienzo. The boy had gone.

But as she went outside, she saw a few markings on the floor. It took her a while to read the carefully written letters, she was still only young after all. Eventually though, she was able to read-

"Thank you for being my friend, Kairi,"

Ienzo ran all the way back to the castle, scrambled through the hole in the wall and into the library- totally unthinking of the guards that could still be lingering. He snatched up the nearest book he recognised and bolted back outside. Picking up his lab coat from where he'd stashed it earlier, he replaced it with the bag he'd been carrying and ran into the courtyard. Swiftly rushing round to the entrance to the kitchen, Ienzo opened up the book he had been carrying, laid it on the ground facing upwards and sat on the floor a meter or so away from it. Then he let out a scream.

It was immediately identifiable as his, due to the fact it was in a pitch only a shrieking seven year old could manage. Ienzo successfully brought out Aeleus, Braig, Xehanort and Ansem and was shakily getting to his feet as they rushed over.

"Are you alright, Ienzo?" Ansem asked concernedly.

"I fell over," Ienzo said dolefully, picking the book up off the grass.

"Figured that much out on our own, thanks," Braig said, inspecting the youngest apprentice's filthy hands and knees.

"Give him to Even," Xehanort said disdainfully, already heading back inside.

Aeleus glared- just a bit- at the scientist's retreating back, irritated at his lack of concern for the youngest apprentice. He glanced over at Ienzo and critically examined the consequences of his 'fall'. Not entirely convinced, mainly due to his friends far too innocent expression. Shrugging off the suspicion, he turned back to the castle and walked inside Ienzo beside him; already reciting parts of the book he had been reading when he left the castle which was why he had left early in the first place (of course).


End file.
